In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

With this weekend kicking off the holiday shopping season, I thought I would highlight a nice post, “The Gift of Preparedness,” by Mike Coston of Avian Flu Diary (with help from Joel from the Preparedness & Response blog) with some constructive ideas for presents as Americans head out to the stores. Coston writes:
In recent years, [...]

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I wanted to point out a story now playing out in Las Vegas, Nevada, which to me is another example of how the public is too often infantilized when it comes to information on serious terrorist threats, including weapons of mass destruction — And, as a result, why we as citizens are not as prepared [...]

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New York State is experimenting with an idea to distribute emergency alerts (including the NYAlerts mentioned in the previous post) over online gaming networks. According to an InformationWeek.com article.
The goal, said New York State Deputy CIO Rico Singleton, is to reach younger residents who spend more time on the Xbox, PlayStation, or Wii than with television [...]

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Today, November 19th, is the 34th annual “Great American Smokeout” aimed at helping smokers “use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking.” Here in New York, the Department of Health is continuing its aggressive anti-smoking effort by handing out free nicotine gum and patches at sites throughout the [...]

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According to a new report, All Volunteer Force: From Military To Civilian Service, a significant percentage of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan would be interested in volunteering in disaster relief efforts here in the U.S..
The report, written by Civic Enterprises, indicated that 91% of veteran respondents would like to address the issue of “disaster relief” as [...]

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In a speech at the London School Economics last week, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano brought her theme of “shared responsibility” across the Atlantic. She told the audience — which included a number of American students — that as part of U.S. homeland security, ”individuals have responsibilities, families have responsibilities to be prepared…to have thought what they would [...]

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I recently read an interesting report, “A Strategy for Developing ‘A Culture of Preparedness,’” which summarizes the work of FEMA Region V’s “2009 “Preparedness Summit.” Held in Chicago in January, the Summit brought together 75 government and non-government experts from a number of fields “to generate ideas toward creating a culture of preparedness.”
James Opoka, Region [...]

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As I have mentioned on the blog my CPR-AED accreditation has expired, and I have to renew it — not only because I need the official paperwork, but I also feel like I could use the skills refresher. Though the fact I haven’t gotten around to it typifies the difficulty that a lot people have [...]

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A new post, “The Best Notification,” by Rick Wimberly on EmergencyMgmt.com’s Alerts and Notifications blog summarizes an interesting report Wimberly issued this year, Notifications, Alerts, Warnings: The Next Generation.
As governments at all levels try to determine the optimal alert/warning systems, Wimberly, president of Galain Solutions, argues for a “system of systems” which encompasses myriad distribution methods:
Get five [...]

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Daylight Savings Time ended today. So, after you’ve changed your clocks, VCR’s, etc., (and checked the batteries on your smoke alarms) why don’t you also take a moment to review the supplies in your emergency kit and go-bag (or put some aside if you have not already done so). You now have another hour in the day [...]

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